There was a sense around Boston that, after the departure of Doc Rivers, Celtics president Danny Ainge would go for an out-of-the-mainstream hire as the team’s next coach.

And Ainge went way out of the mainstream, as the Celtics caught the NBA universe by surprise on Wednesday night by announcing the hiring of 36-year-old Butler coach Brad Stevens.

Stevens is, no doubt a gamble, especially for a franchise whose last college-connected hire was Rick Pitino, whose time in Boston is still remembered for the 102-146 record over four years and as the tail end of the darkest age in team history.

Stevens, though, comes into a better situation than the one Pitino had to handle. The Celtics have, in the past two offseasons, cleared out their veteran Big Three of Ray Allen, Paul Pierce and Kevin Garnett and have set themselves up for a youth movement.

Given Stevens’ track record as a developer of players with the Bulldogs—who went 166-49 in six years under Stevens and made two trips to the Final Four—the hire figures to have a high reward should it work out. He will have time to figure it out, as he is set to receive a six-year contract, according to a Boston Herald report.

“Brad and I share a lot of the same values,” Ainge said in a statement. “Though he is young, I see Brad as a great leader who leads with impeccable character and a strong work ethic. His teams always play hard and execute on both ends of the court.”

It has a high risk factor, too. Stevens is now the youngest coach in the NBA. Boston still has veterans Rajon Rondo, Jeff Green, Brandon Bass and Courtney Lee on hand, and one of the difficulties that coaches making the college-to-pro leap have had is reaching veteran players who don’t trust their lack of experience.

Stevens is well-respected around the NBA and in college basketball, but the locker room of an NBA team is a much more treacherous minefield than anything Stevens has handled before.

“Our family is thrilled for the opportunity given to us by the leadership of the Boston Celtics, but it is emotional to leave a place that we have called home for the past 13 years,” Stevens said in a statement. “We truly love Butler University and Indianapolis, and are very thankful to have had the opportunity to celebrate so many wonderful things together. What makes Butler truly unique is the people that we have been so blessed to work with. When it comes time for our kids to look at schools, we will start with Butler University.”

For now, though, Stevens becomes the latest to join the NBA coaching ranks for the first time. Increasingly, jobs in the NBA are being filled by young, driven coaches who have an understanding of advanced statistics that they can combine with an understanding of getting the most out of players and putting together a workable offensive and defensive system.

Across the NBA, there have been an astounding 12 coaching changes. While respected veterans like Nate McMillan, George Karl and Lionel Hollins did not get top-job gigs this offseason, with the addition of Stevens, there are now eight NBA hires who have no previous experience as NBA head coaches before.